City offices remain open as officials monitor coronavirus

Published 3:29 pm Monday, March 16, 2020

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City of Greenville officials have been working to prepare for its impact as the coronavirus spreads across the nation.

Mayor Dexter McLendon and other officials from across Butler County spoke to media members about the efforts via conference call earlier today.

As of Monday afternoon, no closures of city or county offices or facilities have been announced, but officials and department heads will continue to monitor the situation and make decisions based on state recommendations on Wednesday. Any closures or schedule changes will be announced by Thursday, which Gov. Kay Ivey recommends.

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“We’ve been doing conference calls to eliminate everyone trying to get in the room together an causing a problem,” McLendon said. “We started at about 6 o��clock this morning and started making a list of what we’ve been doing and what our plans are.”

Representatives from the City of Georgiana, Town of McKenzie, Butler County, the Regional Medical Center of Central Alabama, city service departments and law enforcement and firefighting officials, joined McLendon as they discussed plans with the local media. State Rep. Chris Sells was also on hand for the meeting.

McLendon said one of his major concerns was the health and well-being of the city’s first responders in the event of a crisis.

“We want to make sure our paramedics and firefighters are taken care of,” he said. “This may include changes in leaving the doors of the fire department open.”

McLendon said for now, city services such as trash pickup and limb pickup will continue on the normal schedule.

“For now, it’s business as usual,” he said. “We will let the public know by Wednesday afternoon what is closed. We’re going to look at what we might have to close until April 6.”

McLendon noted that schools were closing and that the Alabama Department of Public Health has advised to limit the number of people at gatherings to less than 50.

“There will be no ball games or anything that brings people in,” he concluded.